Central Smith Creamery's Third 'Fill the Truck' Campaign Collected 8,000 Pounds of Food and $8,000 For Kawartha Food Share

The third year of Central Smith Creamery’s ‘Fill the Truck’ campaign brought roughly 8,000 pounds of food and $8,000 cash donations for Kawartha Food Share (KFS) on Friday.

Central Smith Creamery Staff with Ashlee Aitken (far right). Two delivery trucks were need to collect and haul all the donations to KFS. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The campaign had approximately 40 local businesses and organizations collect non-perishable goods and money from their respective communities since it was announced in late November. Goods and cash were collected from Nov. 27 to Dec. 14.

Central Smith had two delivery trucks collect the donated items on Friday and deliver them to Kawartha Food Share on the same day.

The list of drop-off locations for the ‘Fill the Truck’ campaign. Photo courtesy of Central Smith Creamery.

While the annual campaign is young, being in its third year, the participating businesses inquired about the campaign being run again before Central Smith had announced it according to Ian Scates, Central Smith president.

“They're already letting us know that they were keen and excited about contributing this year,” he said.

The excitement was a mutual feeling from Central Smith and its employees as well.

“It's the most fun day,” said Shannon Meagher, Central Smith inventory control coordinator. “We all really look forward to it. Everyone wants to participate.”

KFS typically sees an uptick in demand during the Christmas season and the extra donations help stretch that into the early months of the year says Ashlee Aitken, KFS general manager.

“Post-pandemic, we're feeding anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000 people a month, sometimes in the winter, that goes up to about 15,000,” she said. “We'll do what we can and hope to alleviate some pressures for some families.”

Aitken concluded that KFS is always looking for volunteers especially during the holiday season.

“We need about 100 volunteers doing various jobs,” she explained. “We're always looking for help so if anyone's ever interested, just give our warehouse a call and we'll find a position that fits you well.”

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Central Smith Creamery Celebrates Success Of 'Moon Mist' Ice Cream With Tie-Dye T-Shirt Community Event

To celebrate the high sales of their latest ice cream flavour, Central Smith Creamery put on a ‘Moon Mist Tie Dye Day’ community spirit event to mark the early success at their Selwyn facility on Friday afternoon.

Logan McGee, 7, eagerly awaits his tie-dye t-shirt as Christy Joy pulls the top from the pail. The tie-dye shirts are in the same colours as the Moon Mist ice cream that was released in March. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Central Smith sold out 65 tickets to their event that allowed children and adults to make and take home tie-dye t-shirts in the same colours as their ‘Moon Mist’ ice cream that debuted in March.

It consists of three flavours, banana, blue bubblegum and grape. The flavour is popular in Nova Scotia and Central Smith took a playful approach to introducing Moon Mist into their lineup with their community event.

“This was to have a bit of fun with the character that we created, the little alien,” said Jillian Scates, Central Smith project manager. “We just wanted to bring lots of people to the factory and have some fun.”

The little alien associated with the Moon Mist flavour, connected the space setting the creamery wanted to portray. Photo courtesy of Central Smith Creamery.

Central Smith often holds community events such as ‘Bigfoot Day’ and ice cream socials. They have engaged in philanthropy work, holding food drives for Kawartha Food Share every Christmas and supporting Five Counties Children’s Centre and Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation.

“We love working and hanging out with the community,” said Scates. “We love meeting with lots of people and we're always trying to be community-focused here at Central Smith so we thought a fun event would be good.”

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Central Smith Creamery's Second "Fill the Truck" Campaign Donates 14,000 Pounds of Food and Over $10,000 for Kawartha Food Share

Year two of Central Smith Creamery’s “Fill the Truck” campaign built on its inaugural year, delivering roughly 14,500 pounds of food and $10,030 in cash donations for Kawartha Food Share (KFS) on Friday.

This year’s campaign nearly tripled last year’s food weight and raised more money than last year’s event. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The campaign rallied 38 businesses to collect cash and non-perishable goods as Central Smith drove their delivery trucks and collected the donated items on the same day they were delivered.

The campaign ran from Dec. 1 - 15 and beat the previous year’s goal of 5,000 pounds and $9363.50.

“Just given what's happened with the economy with food prices and all of that, I'm just amazed that we were able to be successful in our campaign,” said Jenn Scates, Central Smith Creamery co-owner. “With the work of my team and everybody contributing, it's not just one person, it's a whole bunch of elves that helped and it's just amazing.”

“It's been difficult for us to stretch our dollars as far as it once did but it's also difficult for our donors to continue to donate as much as they did in the past,” said Ashlee Aitken, KFS general manager. “We know times are tough, we know food costs are extremely high and so to see this many people donate this many items is so heartwarming this time of year and we really appreciate the support.”

The timing for the donations could not have been better for KFS as the demand for food banks goes up during the holiday season according to Aitken. She says Christmas is an added expense that not all families can afford.

“Heat and hydro bills are up, kids are home from school, there's a couple of extra meals they have set them up with there, there's just a lot of added expenses to families that are already struggling and already don't earn enough money for their families,” explained Aitken. “Every little donation goes a long way. Something like this where they're bringing in thousands of pounds of food for us, it really helps us stock the shelves at the food banks before we get into that busy crazy season.”

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Central Smith Creamery Running Second Annual "Fill The Truck" Food Drive For Kawartha Food Share

Central Smith Creamery is loading up for Kawartha Food Share as they are running their second annual ‘Fill the Truck’ campaign, collecting non-perishable goods for Kawartha Food Share from Dec. 1 - 15.

between 2017 and 2018, Around 14.5 per cent of Peterborough residents lived with food insecurity according to the Peterborough Food Action Network. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The campaign fills its trucks with donations instead of ice cream as they challenge community members, businesses schools and organizations to help them collect goods.

Anyone can drop off any non-perishable goods at any participating location in the Peterborough and surrounding area including Central Smith.

On Dec. 16, the Selwyn-based business collects the goods from each drop-off spot and delivers them to Kawartha Food Share.

The following is a list of participating businesses so far:

• Suzi Home Maker

• Sullivan’s General Store

• Holiday Inn

• Ferndale Bible Church

• Kingdon Timber Mart

• Kawartha Orthodontics

• Applewood Retirement Residence

• Dentistry on Sherbrook

• Peterborough KIA

• Kawartha Buttertart Factory

• McWilliams Moving & Storage Ltd.

• Hospice Peterborough

• Home Hardware Building Centre

• Scotiabank

• The Publican House

• Lakefield Herald

• Crestwood Secondary School

• Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber

• Style Boutique

Last year, the campaign collected over 5,000 lbs. of food and almost $10,000 in cash donations.

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Local Creamery Holds First "Bigfoot Day" As Family-Friendly Event

It might be the closest sighting Selwyn and Peterborough may get of the legendary creature as Central Smith Creamery held its first ‘Bigfoot Day’ as a family-friendly event on Friday afternoon.

"‘Bigfoot’ (left) with Isabelle Greer, 6 (right) in a photo op. All visitors were welcome to interact and have their picture taken with the mythic figure. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The Bigfoot is a nod to one of the creamery’s flavours that consists of vanilla ice cream, peanut butter cups and chocolate ripple.

“Bigfoot ice cream has been a staple around Central Smith for about 25 years and we just felt it was time to really highlight the flavour,” said Jenn Scates, Central Smith Creamery co-owner.

@ptbo_canada It’s Bigfoot Day at @central_smith Creamery! See the big man, get a photo and $1 Bigfoot kiddie cones! #ptbo #ptbocanada #icecream #summer #bigfoot #delicious #food #foodie #foodtiktok #sweet #sweets #icecreamday ♬ Ice Cream - BLACKPINK & Selena Gomez

The event features ‘Bigfoot’ as a costume, one dollar kiddie cones of the respective flavour, a search for 10 hidden ice cream vouchers and children’s activities.

Visitors were allowed to have their photos taken with Bigfoot and interact with him while getting ice cream.

The event is the creamery’s first that doubles as a playful joke towards Trent University.

"There's apparently a group at Trent University who's been looking for Bigfoot so we wanted to tell them that we 'found' him," said Scates.

The event was originally scheduled for last Friday but was postponed due to the weather. Central Smith has over 60 flavours of ice cream that are in regular rotation.

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Local Creamery Fills the Truck With Over 5,000 Pounds of Goods For Local Food Bank

After roughly 5,000 pounds of food and $9363.50 later, Central Smith Creamery’s “Fill the Truck” campaign was a success in making their donation to Kawartha Food Share (KFS) on Friday.

(from left to right) Jenn Scates, Central Smith Creamery co-owner; Ashlee Aitken, Kawartha Food Share general manager; Ian Scates, Central Smith Creamery co-owner and Derek Fraser, Central Smith Creamer truck driver piled among the totes and bins of the food collections from over 40 different businesses. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The Selwyn creamery asked over 20 businesses to be drop-off locations for the collected goods from Nov. 26 to Dec. 17. Once the campaign caught on, it quickly grew to over 40 participating businesses and organizations.

“The Women’s Business Network (of Peterborough) was a big help in getting it up to 40 as well as our network of people in the height of the pandemic,” explained Jenn Scates, Central Smith Creamery co-owner. “We reached out to local businesses and highlighted them in our reel and we just reached out to those people again and asked if they wanted to be on board and many of those people jumped into this.”

@ptbo_canada

@central_smith is helping others have a wonderful Christmas Time with their food drive for Kawartha Food Share! ##wonderfulchristmastime ##fooddrive

♬ Wonderful Christmastime - Edited Version / Remastered 2011 - Paul McCartney

Scates along with husband and co-owner Ian highlighted notable donors such as Kawartha Metals Corporation donating $5,000, Kawartha Orthodontics matching the cash donations made at the Creamery dollar for dollar and Chemong Public School organized their own food drive to contribute. The couple was grateful to all participants in the campaign.

When Central Smith dropped off the goods to KFS, Ashlee Aitken, KFS general manager believes that the total goods could weigh more than 5,000 pounds. An official weight will be determined over the weekend.

"I had full expectations that they would fill the truck but seeing it here in person and fill it to the brim is just absolutely insane," she said.

The food will be distributed to 37 food agencies affiliated with KFS. Donated toys will be given to the Salvation Army.

“It's exciting to be a part of Peterborough and we've always said it's one of the most generous communities that anyone could live in," said Ian. "We feel so grateful and fortunate to be a part of it."

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Ice Cream Parlour Challenges Community To Fill Their Truck For Local Food Bank

One of Central Smith Creamery’s trucks will be filled with non-perishable food instead of ice cream for three weeks as they and over 20 other businesses, schools and organizations are gathering items for Kawartha Food Share beginning Friday.

Steve Paul, logistics manager (pictured) has been working for Central Smith Creamery for the past seven years. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The local creamery is challenging the community to drop off any non-perishable goods to any participating location in the Peterborough and surrounding area from Nov. 26 to Dec. 17. Residents can also drop their items at Central Smith.

On the final day, the Selwyn-based business will collect the goods from each drop-off spot and deliver them to Kawartha Food Share.

The following is a list of participating businesses:

• Modern Makers Market

• Hanoi House

• Taso’s

• SOS Save Our Soles

• Apollo Grill

• The Pizza Factory

• Two Dishes Cookshop

• Jesse’s Tap & Grill

• Kawartha Buttertart Factory

• Great Canadian RV

• Flossophy

• Ennismore Eagles

• Applewood Retirement Residence

• Nateure’s Plate

• Chemong Public School

• Women’s Business Network of Peterborough

• McWilliams Moving & Storage Ltd.

• Hi Ho Silver

• Kia Peterborough

• Full Tilt Cycle

• Dan Joyce Clothing

• Sullivan Law

• Publican House Brewery

• Style Boutique

• Holiday Inn

• Lakefield Herald

• Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce

Some businesses may not be able to hold and store the donated items and can ask for monetary donations instead.

Peppermint Bark is one of the featured ice cream flavours for Central Smith during the holiday season. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The food drive is a part of an annual community event the creamery runs during the holiday season.

“We always do something every year for Christmas time,” said Jillian Scates, Central Smith project manager. “We did a toy drive the year before. We thought this year we would do something for the community, challenge other businesses to get involved and donate during the holiday season.”

The following are the non-perishable food items that are being requested:

• Cereal

• Beans and Legumes

• Peanut Butter

• Rice Pasta Granola Bars

• Canned Vegetables

• Canned Fruit

• Soup

• Pasta Sauce

• Chili

• Children's Snacks

• Stews Oats

• Canned Meats

• Condiments

• Spices

• Broth / Stock

• Cooking Oil

• Juices

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Local Ice Cream Parlour Celebrates 125th Anniversary

Central Smith Creamery celebrates their 125th anniversary with one-dollar vanilla ice cream cones this Saturday which is considered National Ice Cream Day weekend.

(left to right) Jillian Scates, project manager and co-owners Ian and Jennifer Scates are part of three generations who have been involved with Central Smith Creamery. Photo by David Tuan Bui

The price is a throwback to when the Scates family purchased the business in 1978 and sold ice cream scoops at that price. They chose vanilla as ice cream’s oldest flavour to commemorate the milestone.

"It's a true honour,” said Ian Scates, co-owner of Central Smith. “Sometimes you kind of have to pinch yourself to realize that you've literally been here before cars existed. It's a bit surreal to think that it's been around as long as it has.”

Ian Scates describes working at Central Smith the “longest summer job” of his life. Photo by David Tuan Bui

“Sometimes in life, it's really important to stop and celebrate the milestones,” said Jennifer Scates, co-owner of Central Smith. “The business of life gets us not thinking about the important things and it's important to recognize where we were, where we're going to, celebrate our employees who have helped us along the way and just pause and reflect.”

Central Smith Creamery has over 70 flavours of ice cream where some come in and out of rotation depending on popularity. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The business has had three generations of the Scates working at Central Smith. Ian’s father, James Scates purchased the business back from the Andrews family in 1978 where Ian first helped the business in 1979. Since then, Ian has been working at Central Smith for 42 years.

His daughter, Jillian Scates graduated in business from Dalhousie University in April 2016 and joined the business starting at the bottom. She has worked her way through as a sales analyst and now as a project manager.

“There's a lot of pride in that we've been able to keep going with the legacy,” said Jennifer. “This place is still in the same place 125 years ago.”

Some of creamery’s top flavours are Algonquin Canoe, Lavender Lemonade and Monster Cookie. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

New this year is Central Smith merchandise for sale such as reusable water bottles, caps and t-shirts. A colouring contest to design your own ice cream flavour is part of the milestone celebrations. Customers can pick up a colouring sheet and submit their designs to the store by Aug. 1.

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Ice Cream Parlour Serving Up Smiles for Children's Charity

Central Smith Ice Cream served charity ice cream cones for Five Counties Children’s Centre’s “Do It For The Kids” campaign on Saturday.

(Left to Right) Allison Zomer, Central Smith server; Jennifer Scates, Central Smith co-owner; Linsay Kampf, Five Counties communications coordinator and Olivia Stevenson. Central Smith server. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The creamery was selling $2.50 single-scoop vanilla ice cream cones with blue and green sprinkles — the Five Counties’ colours — where proceeds go towards the charity. They also sold $2 donation cards as another method to raise money.

The one-day event is a wrap-up of a campaign that the creamery runs monthly. The events were organized by the creamery staff including a cakewalk, bake sales, 50/50 draws and a “Do It for Dad” ice cream day.

“It’s really been a grassroots organization and it’s been driven by the staff,” said Jennifer Scates, Central Smith co-owner. “It’s been phenomenal.”

Central Smith has over 60 flavours of ice cream, sherbet or sorbet that are available in cones, cups or sundaes. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The ice cream parlour has raised roughly $1,800 towards their $5,000 goal to be donated on Halloween. Central Smith has unaccounted funds in the past month that has yet to be counted toward the total.

The staff chose Five Counties as their charity of choice back in September. The creamery runs a charity campaign every two years where Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Team55 and Terry Fox have been past recipients.

Central Smith began exclusive production of premium ice cream in 1952. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The store plans to run future campaigns until September such as charity walks, 50/50 draws and bake sales. Several of the events run have been organized and initiated by the staff.

“We’ve just been slowly building momentum through the year,” said Scates.

Central Smith was founded in 1896 and celebrates its 125th anniversary in mid-July.

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Central Smith Creamery Ice Cream Social Raises $13,420.25 For PRHC Foundation

Central Smith Creamery has announced that their Ice Cream Social on July 20th raised $13,420.25 for the Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation.

“The hospital has always been near and dear to our hearts,” says Jenn Scates, Vice-President of Marketing for Central Smith Creamery. “We are so fortunate to have a state-of-the-art, accredited hospital right in our community. The doctors and nurses are so committed and passionate about helping people get better. This is our way of saying thank you for the great care!”

Cheque presentation at Central Smith (photo courtesy PRHC Foundation)

With all proceeds from the day being donated to the PRHC Foundation, ice cream eaters were encouraged to say thank you for great care to the doctors and nurses at Peterborough Regional Health Centre by purchasing a $2 tribute card at the checkout, among other fundraising activities at the event. A whopping 1,500 tributes were generated.

On Thursday, July 25th, staff at Peterborough Regional Health Centre were in for a real treat when Central Smith arrived in the cafeteria over lunch hour to scoop free ice cream. The local ice cream company wanted to personally say thank the doctors and nurses who work tirelessly to deliver great care to the community.

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